His stomach growled as if to emphasize the point. As much as he wanted to delve right back into his book and find the remaining answers he sought, he knew he would have to take some care of his body first, lest there be nothing left to find Valeria with at the end of his search. Besides, he could use the time to do some light reconnaissance and find out what had happened to the Guild leadership and their guards and hopefully find out how much longer he’d have to finish his task and get out of here before they returned.
First things first, he headed over to his house. There, he prepared a quick meal and gathered up his few meager belongings – a wand, an old traveling cloak, and a pendant that once belonged to his mother. He stashed the goods in a bag, along with Valeria’s ring.
The ring brought him an acute sadness, but he powered through it. He decided to put it on again, even though it seemed to do nothing. Still, he would wear it in memory of her at the very least. Then he grabbed whatever food he could easily take with him and put that in the bag, too.
His next task would be to find someone to talk to. Someone he could still trust. The last part would be particularly hard – he really had never gotten along with anyone at the Guild other than Valeria. His talents had set him apart. Most other mages were jealous of him. That made forming lasting bonds nearly impossible.
Still, he searched around and it wasn’t long until he came across another mage, Hubert by name. He waved at the young man, but Hubert didn’t respond. It was like the man didn’t even see him. He tried to wave again, but still there was nothing. Hubert kept walking forward like there was no one in his path, and eventually Teryn had to move out of the way at the last second, lest Hubert mow him down.
Teryn found the behavior odd, but for all he knew, word of his deeds had already reached everyone’s ears and his acquaintances were treating him like he didn’t exist for fear of being seen as a co-conspirator.
Or at least, that was the thought process he had at the time, but after a few more attempts at talking to people, even those he didn’t know, the truth started to dawn on him.
Valeria’s ring! It must contain an invisibility charm. He tested this theory by taking off the ring and waving at a stranger. This time, the stranger nodded back. Then he ducked around a corner, put the ring back on, came out, and tried to wave again. No response.
Teryn grinned from ear to ear. So that’s how Valeria always dodged all the guards so easily.
Still, he wasn’t sure just how good of an enchantment the ring held. Any half-decent Enchantry wizard could probably see through its magicks, so he needed to use it carefully and sparingly.
But it could be of use to him here and now. With the ring still on, he walked around until he found of group of gossiping mages nearby. Then he used another magic spell to turn up his hearing and listen in to their conversation.
His time spent inside the mind of a Sage proved useful to him. He’d learned a great deal of new tricks in that short time. One of them was a spell that let him hear other’s thoughts and words from great distances, sometimes even hundreds of feet away. Though for now, a few dozen would suffice.
Teryn closed his eyes and concentrated on the farloud spell. Within moments, he was hearing chatter from the gossiping group, and it was both enlightening and alarming. From what he could gather, the Guild leadership council had been ‘called away’ suddenly to the Fusong province of Coontan. Fusong was at least a two weeks’ march away from here, which is why it was surprising.
Supposedly, they had been asked to investigate rumors of serious crimes committed by a Guild member – none other than one Teryn Auroch. Having found him guilty of treason, the Guild leadership council was now on its way back to find and terminate Teryn, who was being held under house arrest.
Obviously, he knew most of the story was patently false, but at least one part was likely true – the council would return soon to find him and punish him. Coontan had a teleporter, so they could theoretically return at any time. It seemed unlikely for the Guild Master to ask for the king’s assistance, but he didn’t want to be around when the man did return all the same.
Still, he couldn’t leave without finding his dear Valeria, either.
His mind made up, he sped back over to the library. He knew that Gallian’s book had yet to yield all of its secrets and was certain something in there would help him rescue Valeria from whatever foul fate she had in store. If only he could finish the book.
Teryn slowly opened the door to the library and looked around inside to make sure no one had shown up in his absence. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it was empty. Most likely, the other Guild members were using the council’s absence as an excuse to shirk their duties with no fear of recourse.
He couldn’t blame them – he’d do the same thing.
Feeling safe for the moment, he went over to where he had flung the book and found it exactly where he’d left it. He opened the book and it
